Billie Jean King continues to be a driving force for women’s sports in 2025

Billie Jean King was everywhere in 2024.

She kicked off the year in Toronto by attending the inaugural professional Women’s Hockey League game – a personal passion project many years in the making. King appeared at three of the four Grand Slams, served as a BBC commentator at Wimbledon, attended the Paris Olympics (where she gave a memorable interview with Snoop Dogg), and celebrated the Los Angeles Dodgers’ season, from their Korea opener to their World Series victory.

As a Dodgers co-owner, King joined the festivities along with her commitments to other sports, including the WNBA Finals and, of course, the Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Malaga, Spain.

Other highlights in 2024 included:

• Attending the US President’s State of the Union address with his partner, Ilana Kloss
• Celebrating the Women’s Sports Foundation’s 50th Anniversary with Vice President Kamala Harris
• Delivers the commencement address at USC’s Annenberg School
• Receiving the Congressional Gold Medal, the first individual female athlete to earn the honor
• Being recognized at the Hispanic Star Gala with Rosie Casals
• Unveiling a statue of himself at California State, Los Angeles
• Tapes a fashion segment for Naomi Osaka’s production company
• Featured on “Jeopardy! Champions”

Did we mention King recently turned 81?

“When people tell me about all the stuff we’re doing, I say, ‘Wow, that’s pretty good,'” King said recently from his home in Chicago. “And 81 is really good, I think. But I don’t think of it that way.”

No, she prefers not to talk about the past — she thinks and acts almost exclusively in the present with an eye to the future. Mostly, and this won’t come as a shock to any of her fans, about how to further improve the rising state of women’s athletics.

In King’s mind, her greatest achievement was taking women’s tennis from the dark ages of amateur competition to cashing checks as a professional. She was the critical factor in the formation of the Women’s Tennis Association more than half a century ago, a feat—with the financial backing of entrepreneur Mark Walter—she has replicated with the PWHL.

It began with a call from Kendall Coyne, the captain of the US national hockey team and 2018 Olympic gold medalist.

“We need a proper professional hockey league — we need it for the future,” she told King and Kloss in their New York apartment.

Despite the individual nature of tennis, King has always been a team sport enthusiast. She grew up playing on the basketball and school tennis teams and built World Team Tennis around that premise.

“Can you stick together through thick and thin – because sometimes it gets thin?” King Coyne asked. “Her answer was yes. It’s the first time that women’s hockey players had any kind of real pro league. Somebody’s wearing their gear, they’re getting all these things they’ve never had, so it’s really exciting. It’s a huge investment, but women’s sport needs it – so here it is.”

And then King is off like lightning to the next subject to be addressed.

Since her beginnings in tennis, King has been a mentor to Chris Evert, who said sometimes being around her can be exhausting.

“She has so much energy,” Evert said. “She’s just always been excited about life. A passion for life. When she was, what, nine years old, she said, ‘I want to be No. 1 – and I will be no. 1.” I had just finished coloring when I was nine.

“Billie was born a leader, a very special individual. These tennis players today should be so thankful she was in our sport. If she had been a golfer, we would have been in the background. How lucky are we that she was a tennis player?”

‘As good as it gets’

Martina Navratilova and the WTA arrived at exactly the same time, and the Czech player became one of the tour’s brightest stars. Navratilova understands her debt to King and her fellow pioneers.

“She put women’s tennis on the map,” Navratilova said from her home in Miami. “By leading the way with the Virginia Slims Tour. And then she kind of took it to a whole other level by beating Bobby Riggs (in 1973). That was the extravaganza in Houston. Billie took it beyond tennis — it went across of all sports.

“It’s the legacy that encourages women to strive for more. That’s as good as it gets. The true masters, they rub off on areas beyond their specific expertise—to the world. Billie Jean did that.”

Said King: “I mean we went through hell, we were up until 4 in the morning doing meetings. No one will ever see it – but we know it. That’s what it took to provide opportunities for female athletes.”

Today’s players, she said, might be more curious about how the system that rewards them so handsomely actually works.

“I asked a player at a (WTA Tour) 500,” King said. “I said ‘Did you get paid?’ And the player said of course. I said, ‘Did you ask the promoter or the owner how he or she did it?’ And she got this blank look on her face.

“I said, ‘These are the people who work all year, so you can have a week. And they may have lost a lot of money. You have your check. Have you ever asked them if they had a good week?’ The answer is always no.”

King, battling a virus, was relatively low toward the end of 2024. But she’s already set for another whirlwind year in 2025. She and Kloss have even hit the court again after a 20-year hiatus, rekindling their love of hitting tennis balls.

“I had forgotten how happy it makes me,” King admitted.

With the new season approaching, King is ready to dive back into his global advocacy efforts. Organized as ever, she’ll hit the road armed with her signature style – including a box of 16 different colored custom glasses to coordinate with her outfits.

Not surprisingly, King isn’t slowing down. PWHL is now looking to expand. Executives have confirmed plans to add as many as two franchises for the 2025-26 season, with no restrictions on which North American markets they will consider.

“Growth is critical to the future of women’s sports,” King said.

A mantra she has lived by for decades.